Today, Ryan and I racked (that's fancy homebrew language for "moved") our beer from its primary fermentation into its secondary fermentation. We know now that we probably moved it a little early, but since we're learning and everything, we'll just chalk it up to experience and hope for the best....

Welcome to homebrewing!
- Yes, logs. Take notes. You'll thank yourself later.
- If you ever decide to try a hefeweisen or similar wheat style, make sure you have ample space in your primary carboy/bucket. The yeast is *very* enthusiastic. VERY. Our first time we ended up with a little gyser of foam burping out the airlock and generally making a mess.
- Careful when pouring DME (dry malt extract). That stuff is deceptively sticky, will get on everything if there's the slightest breeze, and it's a pain to clean up ("Dammit, everything is still sticky!").
- It's always good to take a hydrometer reading before bottling just to make sure the sugars have really been nommed by the yeast. We had a case when we were making a dark lager where we bottled without checking. Turns out there was too much sugar left. They turned out all foam on the pour since the yeast went into overdrive during bottle fermentation.
- Have fun! :)

Ryan is going to be 22 at the end of the month. For those of you who have been here since I wrote the 13 on 31 post, you now know how I feel every single day. The rest of you can get off my lawn before I call your parents. So the other day, he and I were having a beer together, and Ryan said, "W...

This is crying out for a caption. I'll choose my favorite, and send something neat* to whoever writes it. Submissions open throughout the weekend, one per person, and can only be left as comments here (it's too difficult to track on Twitter or via e-mail). *definition of 'neat' will be at my s...